EVENTS Discussions on Haflinger and Pinzgauer Club - UKhttp://haflingerandpinzgauerclubuk.org/forum/categories/events/feed.rss
Thu, 22 Feb 18 00:18:10 -0500EVENTS Discussions on Haflinger and Pinzgauer Club - UKen-CADutch Treffen 2016 - A belated article!http://haflingerandpinzgauerclubuk.org/forum/discussion/1340/dutch-treffen-2016-a-belated-article
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 14:18:42 -0500heinkeljb1340@/forum/discussionsA verybelated article of Lurch's trip to the 8th Dutch Treffenheld in May 2016. Lurch had a full service before hand in order topass the annual MOT and to get ready for the trip to the Netherlands.The back was loaded up with all the camping gear and a selection ofspares and tools the day / evening before. Early on a Thursdaymorning my friend Stephen and I drove Lurch to the ferry port.

This yearwe managed to get on the ferry without worrying about the Dynastart(I had borrowed a spare just in case). In fact my rebuilt Dynastar hasworked perfectly since we changed it on the outskirts of Calais portlast year when the original failed.

Other thanstopping for either petrol or a rest break we headed non-stop for thecampsite. No arguments with the Sat-Nav or maps this year. Campsitefound without trouble and we booked in. First thing was to put tup thetent – yet another different one from last year. That one sufferedbroken fibreglass poles in the storm and I found another viaFreecycle. Having put the tent up we wandered round and found variousother Haflingers and owners either just arriving and putting up tentsor chilling after their journeys.

It'samazing how bad your memory gets when you get older. I know we didlots of different things, but I can only remember the visit to someman made tunnels / caves which included a stop at a very strange spotin Europe. The point at which three countries meet! So I'll leave itto you to work out which three countries. There were some reallyamazing charcoal paintings / drawings in there when you consider theywere all done with the light of a single candle or two. What I didn'tmanage to work out was why they made tunnels whilst cutting thesandstone for building blocks, why not make an open cast cutting /quarry?

We had agood road run with all the vehicles, only one which had some problemsbut they solved pretty quickly allowing us to continue down the greenlanes and tracks. The campsite provided the venue for the eveningmeal and that meant we didn't have far to walk to get back to thetent! I am sure we did more whilst we were there, but after sixmonths I don't remember what they were!

The driveback was uneventful, if long due to the no longer modern road speedof a Haflinger. Lurch has the latest high speed hubs, but coupledwith the governor and forty years of use, cruising speed is not thesame as the plated 47mph! Average on a long run on main roads isnearer 38 /39mph as measured by GPS. Still you do get more time tolook at other things during your journey than just the road andtraffic.

I am sureI should have more interesting things that happened during theweekend that I could put down in this writeup, but as I don'tremember them, they won't get included!

John,Stephen and Lurch (AP703 MkII)

]]>Something new for you to look athttp://haflingerandpinzgauerclubuk.org/forum/discussion/1339/something-new-for-you-to-look-at
Tue, 22 Nov 2016 03:11:06 -0500heinkeljb1339@/forum/discussionsI'll add another couple of links to other video clips with Lurch in them when I find them.

Some of you will know what that means straight away, otherwill have to be told that is the distance Lurch carried me from when I set outfrom home on Friday morning to when I returned back on Monday afternoon fromthe Dersingham weekend.

In a bit more detail, I packed Lurch with camping gear, aselection of spares and set off. A nice day for a drive as it wasn’t too hot ortoo cold. No bright sunshine either as Lurch doesn’t have sun visors so not agood idea to drive into the morning sun if you can help it. At a leisurelypace, we wended our way towards London. Biggest problem is the river Thamescrossing. I could head for the Dartfod crossing and fight with the lorriesgoing through the tunnel, but as they have now removed the toll booths you haveto either pay in advance or within 24 hours of having made the crossing. Whoknow if I will have signal on my phone at Dersingham in order to pay over thephone or via the Internet and then there is the hassle of not knowing if thetunnel control people will take exception to a Haflinger crawling through thetunnel without an escort!

So in the end I headed for the Blackwall tunnel which I knowis easy enough to travel through even if you have to brave three lane trafficto get to it. At least the speed limit is 50 mph at maximum and 40 MPH in thebits that matter.

So on to the A10, it is the easiest road to use to get outof London as it is two lane dual carriage way with only traffic lights to holdyou up. Again most of it out to the M25 is 40 or 50 mph speed limited. Uneventfultrip as far as Dersingham to meet up with the people who had arrived before me– how long did it take? 5 hours give or take a bit as I had a couple of reststops on the way up curtesy of the anti high blood pressure tablets I have totake. The way they keep your blood pressure down is by limiting the amount ofwater in your system, so stops become necessary!

Anyway, be that as it may, Put the tent up – yet another newone as the wind in Holland wrecked the big 6 man one I have and the small 2 manpopup tent is really too small for a camp bed and a bag of clothes. So withhelp from onlookers who became participants, tent went up and things unloaded.Next on the agenda was supper – portion of chips as I had already consumed sandwichesprior to arriving.

I can’t remember the dream I was having as I was rudelyawaked at some dreadful hour of the morning by the local Rooster!

Leisurely breakfast whilst getting ready for the road run – includingmanaging to wreck 2 jacks trying to change a set of tyres on a Haflinger - whichturned out not to have been planned beforehand but never the less was suitablyinteresting. A strange amphibious vehicle which somehow was classed as a northsea ferry was operating from Hunstanton. During our preamble round thecountryside we managed to drive round the rain!

Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent talking to thosewho had made it Dersingham even if it was only for a couple of hours – shamemore don’t bother to come. I wonder if they think – I’ve done it some manytimes in the past and it’s always the same! Well, why not come and then suggestsomething different to do? We were all for parking up in front of Sandringhamto get a photo and taking bets on how long it would be before the Rosser’s wouldbe out to move us on, but for some reason we just drove straight passed!

Evening meal at the pub, but if more people turn up we willhave to find a bigger pub! So I suppose we don’t really want all rest of theclub membership just to turn up! A bit of notice and I saw a big Indianrestaurant just down the road which I am sure we could book.

Those that wanted to enjoyed driving through the newobstacles which have been made at site. Lurch’s gearbox has become nosier sinceI have owned him, so maybe this winter I am going to be forced to do some majorwork on him. The week end also saw the end of his exhaust system! We drove homewith both heat exchangers blowing, so I had to disconnect the hot air heatingto prevent getting gassed! That made the cab cold and I am quite habituated tobeing able to pull the cable and heat the cab to above the outside temperature.

Trip home apart from being cold and very much noisier thanthe trip going was equally uneventful, similar length of time including thedreaded “rest stops”. I now get strange noises on the overrun as well as thewhine which as I say, probably means lots of work to be carried out. If I don’tmake any treffen’s next year that’s probably the reason.

I do wonder how many of the members of the club actuallyhave Haflingers and of those that have, how many have a means of transport forsaid Haflinger? You would have thought that as the average age of the clubsmembers is over the retirement age that they would have time to get out andabout. Maybe it is all down to disposable income – nobody has any anymore!

We had 5 Haflingers and 2 Pinzgauers turn up for the weekend of driving off road. There are plenty of routes which wouldn't test a family car too hard to routes that even 6 wheel Pinz's can get stuck in..... Two Hafi's soon pulled it back out, so you wouldn't get left with you vehicle in a mud hole wondering how you were going to get home.

If you brought a vehicle on a trailer, then even less reason not to turn up. I traveled some 400 miles over the weekend in Lurch and the biggest issue? A windscreen wiper that gained a mind of its own - an 8mm spanner out of the tool box soon sorted that.

As I have to drive there and back. I tend not to be too adventuress with the off roading in Lurch but that's not say he isn't put in to some sticky situations which require 4 wheel drive and the use of both diff locks!

I camped, but there are plenty of B & B's that could be used if you don't fancy a couple of nights in a tent or caravan - nobody has brought one to the last two meetings which i have attended, but then that would mean having to have two main vehicles, one to bring the Haflinger and one to bring the caravan, unless of course you are like the Elliott's who use their Pinzgauer ambulance and trailer.

Just to give some of you a boost to get your re-builds finished. What, I hear you say.... The rebuild that has been going on for the last several years, but still isn't finished.

I drove my Haflinger "Lurch" from my home on the south coast of England to Dover. Boarded a ferry to Dunkirk in France and then using their equivalent of A and B roads, drove through France, Belgium and into Holland. Only hiccup suffered on the way there was a partially discharged battery. Lurch wouldn't start on the Dynastart at Dover when we went to board. A quick push start and then another when we departed the ferry.

Stayed at a campsite in a tent, but for those of you who don't do "camping" there are plenty of cheap hotels / B&B's you could stay at all over Holland.

Over the two days of the "Treffen" we drove our 20 Haflingers some 130 miles. One Haflinger failed to make the start with major electrical / carburation problems, 2 Haflingers developed charging problems but would start with a push.and completed the drives.

Great bits of "green lane" tracks and one section of proper playground type slopes and holes.

Drove back to the ferry port and then home with no problems. Several stops on the way there and on the way back as "rest stops" or to put petrol in. Overall Lurch traveled about 650 miles and return about 30 mpg.

So get those Haflingers out of the garage and on the road so you can have fun "driving" them!